Behaviour in Emergence and Open-Field Tests of Normal and Scrapie Mice

Abstract

Summary A description is given of the application of a simple emergence test for the early diagnosis of scrapie in mice. The scrapie-affected mice showed increasing emergence times as the disease progressed and significant differences over normal controls were observed approximately 6 weeks after inoculation. The clinical symptoms were not observed until 16 weeks after inoculation. An open-field test could not be used for scrapie diagnosis, there being no significant difference between the behaviour of the normal and scrapie mice at 12 or 16 weeks after inoculation.